Heatwave
by Droiture LeReve
Summary: Yugi hates the muggy summer heat. It's too hot, too humid, and it's putting him in a sour mood. Atem, a man who grew up in hotter climes, knows just how to cool him off. Cute fluff. Rated for slight language.


Note: With it being 100 degrees where I live, and not owning a car nor a pair of decent shorts, this little one shot popped into my head. Wearing long pants and having to walk everywhere in 100 degree heat does that to a person. Well, it does it to me. I might not be considered sane at this point. Anyway, have fun. I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!, but someone does and that someone is a lucky, lucky sonavagun.

I gave Atem the last name of Khanen because it sounded vaguely Egyptian and I have no idea what a real ancient Egyptian royal surname would actually be.

**Heat Wave**

"_And expect another week of temperatures well into the 90's, with the heat finally peaking at 105 Wednesday afternoon. This heat wave doesn't seem to want to quit anytime soon. Sorry folks." _

Yugi groaned and flicked the TV off with the remote, falling back into the sweat-stained couch with a thump. His wild hair was limp and sticking to his forehead, making him sweat even worse. He was shirtless and wearing a pair of old sweatpants that he'd cut in half to form a pair of shorts. The heat emanating from the kitchen didn't help, as Atem (who, Yugi noted, was either completely insane or still didn't have a sense of touch) cooked up a storm.

Since Solomon had painstakingly taught the horrifically out-of-date Atem how to use the stove without setting himself on fire (which had caused a number of incidents in the past), Atem had taken to the stove like an old pro and insisted on cooking dinner for the past week, all hot meals that Solomon enjoyed wholeheartedly and Yugi tolerated for Atem's feelings' sake. It's not that the food didn't taste good, _au contraire, _it was absolutely delicious. It was just hot and Yugi hated the heat. It wouldn't be so bad if it weren't so damn humid, Yugi thought, but it _was_ that damn humid and Yugi could barely move without sweating half to death.

As he pushed his sopping, sweaty hair out of his eyes for the 50th time, Yugi vowed to get a buzz cut for the rest of the summer if this kept up.

Atem finally (THANK RA, Yugi thought) turned the stove off and happily made his way into the living room, where he sat next to Yugi and began eating his lunch, hot tomato soup. Yugi noticed with alarm that Atem was wearing his regular long pants, though he was wearing a basic tank top (not that the fact the top was black would help).

"Ugh, I don't understand how you can eat that stuff in this heat."

"Yugi, I grew up in a hotter climate than this. This feels like a balmy spring morning to me." Atem deadpanned, taking a spoonful of his soup without even blowing on it first. Yugi simply looked at him as if he were insane. "Yugi, don't give me that look. You're staring at me like you want to crack open my head."

"Maybe I should just to make sure your brain hasn't been removed. It's 95 out!"

"Yugi, go get some water. You get testy when you're overheated." Atem said calmly, that damned serene smile still not leaving his face. "Better yet, stay there. I'll go get it." Atem put his bowl down on the coffee table and got back up. Yugi heard him rummage around in the fridge before coming back in and handing Yugi a cold bottle of water, which the smaller boy guzzled down as if he'd never seen water before in his life.

"Better?" Atem asked.

"A bit." Yugi admitted.

"Would you like to go to the town pool?"

"Normally I'd say yes but going there involves a twenty minute drive in a car with no AC and broken power windows."

"Maybe we could just go out back and I'll spray you with the hose?"

"Too much effort. I'd rather just stay here and whine until the heat breaks."

Atem shrugged. "Suit yourself."

"_How are you so calm?"_ Yugi demanded.

"5024 years of being exposed to the desert heat. I grew up in the middle of the Sahara, Yugi. It's hot there. And central air hadn't been invented yet. All I had was some scantily clad woman with a leaf fan blowing the hot air on me and pretending it helped. Which it didn't, by the way, and believe me, I told her that more than a few times."

"But at least it was a dry heat and not this sticky, disgusting humidity that makes me want to punch the weatherman in the face."

"Why would you assault the weatherman? It's not his fault it's hot outside, Yugi. He's just the messenger."

"Oh, like you never shot a messenger."

"Once or twice, but only because the neighboring nation declared war on my birthday. That kind of news can make a man a little on edge."

"Ugh." Yugi groaned simply, and flopped over with his head in the crook of his arm. Atem patted him on the back sympathetically, smiling softly.

"The heat will break, Yugi. It can't stay this hot forever."

"So you do acknowledge that it's hot!"

Atem laughed heartily. "I never said I didn't, Yugi, only that I was used to it. I still realize that it's hot. It hasn't been _that _long since I've had skin, Yugi."

"5000 years is quite a long time, Atem."

"Not if you count all those times I had _your _skin."

"Yeah, I guess so."

Atem looked at the miserable boy sitting beside him. "You poor thing. Maybe if we fill the bath tub up with cold water it'll feel like a pool?"

"Only if you're offering to do so." Yugi mumbled through his arm.

"Of course. Come on." Atem reached down and lifted Yugi easily into his arms, who squirmed and protested.

"Noooo, no! Body heat bad! Too hot; put me down!" Yugi whined, squirming uselessly in the former Pharaoh's powerful arms. Atem carried Yugi upstairs into the bathroom, where he dropped him on the floor and started the tub. Yugi landed with a thunk and glared adorable purple daggers at Atem, who simply gave him an apologetic look and flicked him with cold water. Yugi flinched at the sudden onslaught of cold, but realized soon enough that it felt nice.

Once the tub was full Yugi scrambled in, shorts and all. He sighed in relief, even as he sloshed water onto the floor. Atem laughed. "Feel better, aibou?"

"Much. Sorry I was so snappy earlier."

"No offense taken, Yugi. I understand how you're more sensitive to the heat than I am."

"My brain gets all overheated and I stop being able to think logically."

"That's what I'm here for, aibou. Now move over, I'm getting in, too."

Atem quickly stripped off his shirt and socks and slipped into the cool water behind Yugi. Yugi grinned and flicked the water at Atem's face, who laughed and flicked some back, and soon enough a water fight had broken out, with the two splashing and generally causing a riot in the bathroom.

Eventually they calmed down and just enjoyed the cool sensation of the water against their heated skin, until Yugi's cell phone rang from somewhere in his bedroom on the other side of the hallway.

"Oh, damn." Yugi mumbled.

"Relax, aibou. I'll go get it." Atem got up and shook off most of the water from himself, grabbing a towel from the rack and leaving the bathroom.

"Who was it?" Yugi called out after a minute or so.

"It was Kaiba's number, but the message was Joey asking how we were holding up in the heat." Atem called back to Yugi before walking in with the phone.

"You figured out my voicemail password?"

"It was your birthday spelled out in numbers. It's not that hard to figure out. I'm old, Yugi, not an idiot."

"Damn, I thought I stumped you there."

"If you tried to spell _my _birthday in numbers, it would have stumped me."

"Neither of us know your birthday. You usually celebrate it on my birthday."

"Exactly."

"Mmm, we should call Joey back at some point."

"Why was he calling from Kaiba's cell phone number?" Atem asked, clearly puzzled and unable to make a connection.

"Didn't they tell you? Joey finally moved out of his dad's apartment and into the Kaiba mansion. Kaiba's got more than enough room and Joey pays his rent by helping out in the kitchen. He was probably calling from Kaiba's number because he just happened to get his hands on Kaiba's phone before he got to his own. You know how impulsive Joey can get."

"That's good. It'll do Joey good to finally get away from his father."

"I think it's better than Kaiba learned to tolerate Joey." Yugi replied.

"Very true, Yugi."

Yugi finally got out of the tub once the water turned lukewarm and uncomfortable, and shook himself off. Once his hands were dry he took the phone from Atem and dialed Joey's number off his memory. He left a quick message telling Joey they were fine and they were dealing with the heat, and then Yugi threw in a snide joke or two about Atem's hot soup consumption, which made Atem flush and snap at him. Yugi giggled and hung the phone up. The door downstairs swung open and Solomon came in, calling out to Yugi that he was home.

"Coming, Grandpa!" Yugi called out, changing quickly into a dry pair of pants and a T shirt and sliding downstairs on the banister, followed by a still-wet Atem who hadn't bothered to change.

"You boys beat the heat today?" Solomon asked with amusement in his voice at seeing the boys both sopping wet.

"We filled the bath tub with cold water. Yugi didn't want to drive the twenty minutes to the public pool."

"My car doesn't have AC; don't blame me."

"Hey, whatever keeps you boys from dying of heatstroke. It's gonna be hot all week."

"I swear, I need a new car. It doesn't even have to be a _new _new car. Just one that works!" Yugi said. "I don't care if I buy it off some shady back alley drug dealer for a hundred bucks, as long as it has working AC and a remote starter keychain." Yugi said.

Atem laughed. "I still don't think I'm acclimated enough to try to figure out how a car works."

"It's easier than you think it is, especially if you're not forced to _learn to drive your Grandpa's stick shift." _Yugi directed the last bit at Solomon, standing there grinning awkwardly.

"See? I don't even know what that means. What is a stick shift?"

"It's a type of car designed to break your spirit and will to live." Yugi said bitterly.

Atem simply tilted his head and gave Yugi a look that resembled a confused puppy with crimson eyes.

"Never mind." Yugi said, going over to the fridge and getting another bottle of water, which he chugged quickly.

"I think he's getting overheated again." Atem leaned in, whispering loudly and deliberately to Solomon.

Yugi piqued an eyebrow at his darker half deviously before shaking the cola he'd taken from the fridge violently and spraying Atem with cola.

Atem stuttered and spluttered with shock, less about the cold and more that his innocent little hikari had actually had the audacity to do that to him. Atem retaliated by taking the sprayer on the sink faucet and turning it up high, spraying Yugi with frigid tap water.

This started a heated wrestling match to try and wrest control of the sprayer from the other, and Solomon simply chuckled and backed away from the boys, heading upstairs to change and relax for a while.

Finally, Atem came out on top, holding Yugi just beyond reach and sprayed him repeatedly from above, while Yugi grabbed fruitlessly at the air and swore at him in English, Japanese and even a few Egyptian curse words he'd picked up from Atem, who actually had a bit of a sailor mouth when it came to speaking his native Egyptian tongue.

Atem laughed at Yugi's expense until the slick floor caught up to him and both boys went tumbling to the floor, Atem cracking his head off the linoleum tile. Yugi's face immediately switched gears from anger to concern.

"Omigod, Atem, koi, are you alright?"

Atem sat up, dizzy, and holding his head. "Ow!" He swore heavily in ancient Egyptian, before getting up shakily and stepping carefully onto the dry carpet of the living room. Yugi quickly mopped up the water with a hand towel and went to go check on Atem. Atem had sat down on the living room loveseat. Yugi grabbed an ice pack from the freezer and helped Atem apply it to his head.

"I think we both get a little testy in the heat, don't you, aibou?" Atem asked.

"It's not my fault you weren't playing fair. You're like a foot taller than me, Atem. Holding the sprayer that high was cheating."

"I resent that. Atem Khanen is a lot of things, but I am not a cheater. I prefer the term 'strategic'."

"A strategic cheater."

"I am not!"

"You are too, don't deny it."

"I will deny it until my dying day."

"So, you denied it about 5000 years ago, then."

"And I will deny it until my re-death."

Yugi shook his head in amusement. "You're too much, koi."

Atem tilted his head towards Yugi, with his crimson eyes shining with love and light.

"But you're not complaining about the heat anymore, are you?"

END


End file.
